The Orioles have signed left-hander Wei-Yin Chen of Taiwan to a three-year contract with a club option for 2015. The team formally announced the agreement on Tuesday.
Chen, 26, spent the last four years with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Central League. He went 38-30 with a 2.48 ERA in 117 games, 88 of them starts. Chen had a 2.68 ERA in 25 appearances last season. He will be the first Taiwanese-born player in Orioles history.
"Chen works off of a 92-94 mph fastball and he uses a hard, slurve-like breaking ball as an out pitch," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. "He has exceptional command and we like the quality of his pitches to help our team."
Chen had a career-high 13 wins in 27 starts, striking out 153 in 188 innings, in 2019. He led the Central League with a 1.54 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and four shutouts in 164 innings in 2009.
He was a member of the Chinese Taipei national baseball team in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He went 1-0 in two starts in the 2008 Games, tossing seven shutout innings in a 5-0 win over the Netherlands.
"I am extremely excited about this opportunity to challenge the Major Leagues and begin the next chapter of my professional baseball career," Chen said. "I will do my best to help the Orioles to the championship."
Outfielder Kyle Hudson was designated for assignment to make room on the Orioles' 40-man roster. Hudson, 25, hit .143 in 28 at-bats over 14 games with Baltimore last season after hitting a combined .296/.375/.336 in 119 games across three Minor League levels earlier in the year.
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